Filming on series four has already taken place and BBC sources suggest that executives were so pleased with its performance for series three – where ratings averaged around 5m viewers in the overnights – that the summer scheduling experiment is being repeated this year.

Scriptwriter Debbie Horsfield told RadioTimes.com: “The thing about the English weather is it’s so terrible and it’s still raining outside anyway so people stay in to watch TV. Everyone’s pleased with the viewing figures and so many people are watching.

According to Horsfield, “He does take George’s seat. He beats George. At the end of this series we see him coming to the realisation that next time a seat is offered he has to take it.

“He’s not desperate to head off to Westminster but a catastrophic happening in episode one of series four makes him realise that in order to have the power to effect any change he needs to get out of his comfort zone.”

Horsfield added that the change of scene will be a “treat” for viewers.

“It’s very much Cornwall-based but there are so many characters and flavours and one of those flavours is London.

“That’s a thing we haven’t really seen. We saw it when Caroline was in London. There are whole sequences where we go to London and that’s a really exciting new flavour to it. We will meet real characters, like [Prime Minister] William Pitt and [anti-slavery campaigner] William Wilberforce. There are some wonderful affirming storylines and some utterly tragic ones coming up.”

“What we explore in the fourth series, essentially, is her reasons for this little excursion, shall we say, are many and complex.

“I have often thought in a way it was the perfect storm of Hugh being an opportunist, playing on her sympathies, Ross being occupied elsewhere, Demelza sort of in a way enjoying being wooed and courted in a way which she hadn’t been in the early stages by Ross because she obviously went from being his servant to his wife.”

She added that “things look up for Morwenna and Drake gradually” and that Prudie’s common-law husband Jud Paynter (Phil Davis) won’t be seen in series four.

Tholly Tregirls, the colourful piratical figure from Ross’ youth played by Sean Gilder, will be returning in series four, as will Prudie (Beatie Edney), repulsive cleric Osborne Whitworth (Christian Brassington) and Hugh Armitage (Josh Whitehouse). Could the latter be out to cause yet more trouble for Ross and Demelza?

There will also be another fabulous new villain called Monk Adderley, adds Horsfield.

“I think the character people will enjoy most is Monk Adderley. He’s completely amoral but such a vividly drawn character. Ross encounters him in London. Ross really does clash with him. He’s a friend of George’s, that’s how they first meet and another one everyone will love to hate.”

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